The special election for Mike Pompeo’s seat in Kansas will be decided tonight. Pompeo was selected by President Trump to run the CIA so now we have a contest between Republican Ron Estes and Democrat James Thompson.
As Andrew Malcolm wrote earlier today, this is a district that leans decidedly red. Pompeo was re-elected by a 31-points margin last year (Trump won by 27). However, the declining popularity of President Trump has some Democrats hopeful ‘The Resistance’ can score a surprise victory. Republicans have responded by money into the district.
With polls closed, results are starting to trickle in. Scroll down for the latest.
9:15 pm eastern: Thompson is off to an early lead thanks to returns from Witchita, which leans Democratic. Decision Desk HQ seems to be well ahead of everyone else providing results. With 19.4% reporting, they show Thompon leading with 22,188 votes to 18,150 votes for Estes.
9:35 pm: Race is tightening significantly now. With 34.6% reporting Thompson leads 28,658 to 27,054:
Whoa..Butler County just shoved the votes over big time for Estes. Thompson lead now down to 1,587, 3 point race now https://t.co/2I8qbokhQN
9:46 pm: NY Times has 47% reporting and Estes has taken a narrow lead. Estes 30,708-Thompson 30,590.
9:55 pm: While we wait for more results here’s an ad Ron Estes put out a couple weeks ago:
And here’s an ad from Thompson which shows why he’s competitive in a red Kansas district. He’s not running against Trump in this ad, he’s borrowing some of Trump’s themes:
10:04 pm: Decision Desk HQ is still slightly ahead of the NY Times publishing results. Currently DDHQ shows 63.6 reporting and Estes leads 38,241 to 35,497.
